Phoenix fizzles out of FCS playoffs

Adam Smith Times-News @adam_smithTN

Saturday

Nov 24, 2018 at 10:41 PM

Wofford works past Elon in first-round matchup

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — With a reduced margin for error in general due to injuries and possessions at a premium in particular given Wofford’s ball-control ways, Elon couldn’t afford many mistakes across the course of Saturday afternoon.

That served to magnify what went wrong for the visiting Phoenix during its 19-7 loss in the opening round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs at Gibbs Stadium.

After taking a 7-6 lead into halftime, Elon committed two turnovers and went scoreless in the second half as its season came to a sputtering end, leaving the program remaining in search of its first postseason victory on the NCAA Division I level.

Elon (6-5) was limited to season lows in scoring and rushing while dropping to 0-for-3 in its FCS playoff appearances — this latest one-and-done exit joining the ones from 2009 and 2017 — as Wofford (9-3) cranked out 344 rushing yards and advanced to meet No. 4 national seed Kennesaw State next weekend in the Round of 16.

“Our defense gave us stops,” Elon quarterback Daniel Thompson said. “They gave us a chance, even when we played poorly, to stay in the game. We just can’t have those turnovers. They’re too costly.”

Wofford outscored Elon 13-0 in the second half. Reduced to first-half field goals by Elon’s timely stops in the red zone, Wofford went ahead to stay on the first possession that followed halftime, Nathan Walker bulling into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown.

Walker had bruising runs of 12, 14, 15 and 8 yards during the drive. His 90 rushing yards on the day topped the ground-pounding Terriers, who carried 59 times and threw just eight passes.

“We just marched it right down there and it was a huge for our football team, just to kind of set the tone for the second half,” Wofford coach Josh Conklin said.

Conklin said he sensed the momentum shifting on that score by Walker. Things became more pronounced as Elon’s miscues surfaced here in Thompson’s first start since November 2016, in what’s practically his backyard, with this stadium sitting less than 8 miles from his hometown of Boiling Springs, S.C.

Thompson, the senior who had been Elon’s third-string quarterback six weeks ago before standout Davis Cheek’s season-ending knee injury, was in the shotgun formation when an off-target snap had him colliding with running back Brelynd Cyphers, who then inadvertently kicked the fumbled ball forward through the interior linemen to waiting Wofford linebacker Jireh Wilson.

Later in the third quarter, Thompson rolled out away from pressure and was picked off on a throw down the middle into traffic. Wofford’s Ulysses Strawter had Elon receiver Kortez Weeks covered and the ball bounced to Wofford’s Mason Alstatt for the interception.

“Those two turnovers in the second half are killers,” Elon coach Curt Cignetti said.

“It was a dumb decision to throw it over the middle late,” Thompson said of the interception. He finished 20 of 32 for 209 passing yards.

Wofford of the Southern Conference turned those takeaways — Elon arrived plus-11 on the season in turnover margin, a number that led the Colonial Athletic Association — into Luke Carter’s field goals of 33 and 25 yards.

Carter went 4-for-5 on the afternoon, none of his successful attempts longer than 33 yards. His final kick connected for a 19-7 Wofford lead at the 9:53 mark of the fourth quarter.

That formula of keeping the Terriers’ run-heavy option offense out of the end zone and forcing them to depend on field goals worked in Elon’s favor early on.

Twice during the first half, Wofford had to settle for short field goals when the Phoenix stuffed drives that had reached inside the 10-yard line. On another occasion, Carter missed from 36 yards, marking a stop for Elon after Wofford had driven inside the 20.

“To get down there and continuously force them to kick field goals, it was a good look for us,” Elon defensive back Cole Coleman said. “We all felt pretty confident going into the half that we were going to be able to come out and replicate the same thing. And I think to an extent we did a good job, but there’s always things you can improve on to make it easier on the offense.”

Elon put together a 16-play drive, aided by three penalties against Wofford, to go ahead 7-3 early in the second quarter. Cyphers plunged in for a touchdown on third-and-goal from the Terriers’ 1, Elon’s fifth crack at it from inside the 8-yard line.

That 75-yard march didn’t propel the Phoenix’s offense on a productive path. Elon led the CAA with 214.4 rushing yards per game this season, but had just 51 here, far and away a season-worst in that department.

Wofford bottled up Elon running back Jaylan Thomas, the newly crowned Offensive Rookie of the Year in the CAA. Thomas had 38 rushing yards on 16 carries.

Cignetti pointed to a fourth-and-1 in the second quarter, when Cyphers was dropped for no gain on Wofford’s 32, as a moment indicative of Elon’s shortcomings on offense. In the fourth quarter, Thompson threw three straight incomplete passes from Wofford’s 7 while Elon turned it over on downs near the goal line and missed on a chance to pull within one score.

“We had a lead and had the ball inside the 35 with a great opportunity to extend the lead and couldn’t make it happen on fourth-and-1,” Cignetti said in reference to the Cyphers run in the second quarter. “We certainly had our opportunities, particularly early.

“We talked about holding them to field goals in the red area and us scoring touchdowns. We just didn’t get down there enough on offense. That’s a heck of a running football team. To hold them to 19 (points), you ought to have a pretty good chance to win.”

■ EXTRA POINTS: Elon finished 2-4 after staring the season 4-1 and climbing as high as No. 5 in the FCS national polls. … Coleman, the true freshman, and redshirt freshman Jarquez Bizzell led Elon’s defense Saturday with 11 tackles and nine tackles, respectively. … Bizzell and true freshman Jamir Malone made the first starts of their college careers with Elon missing the injured Matt Baker and Zack Monson, regulars at linebacker. On offense, Elon didn’t have running back De’Sean McNair and receiver Corey Joyner due to injuries. … Wofford improved to 6-0 at home this season. … Elon’s previous season low in rushing had been 113 yards during its loss at Delaware, when Cheek went down with a torn knee ligament.

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